Amazing Mudrooms

With this organizing buzz going around, it is inspiring me to get going myself!  One of my heavily weighing, unorganized areas is my laundry room area.  I love my home, but it is lacking in one area.  I don't have a mudroom.  I know right, poor me...whaa whaa ;)  I feel like an ingrate even slightly complaining about this, because I am so blessed.  That's why I called this post "Amazing Mudrooms" instead of what I was going to call it, "Mudroom Envy".  I am going to tackle the area I do have and make it work to the best of it's potential, be happy with what I've got, and one day maybe I'll have a mudroom like one of these.

I love this!  Bright, airy and organized, yet warm and inviting. (from bhg, btw)One thing it has going for it is size...it's large!  I quite enjoy the cabinetry.  Very pretty and functional.  Simple details add a lot, like the cool hardware, and the varying heights of the bench gives such interest.  I like the light color in a room like this.  It makes it feel clean and brighter.  That great door helps too!  Although then people could see in.  That could be scary!  My laundry room could potentially maybe sort of be something like this.  It would only involve a little tiny bit of wall taking down and expansion. ;) (the little tiny is me trying to make it sound sooooooo easy and inexpensive to my husband) lol
 
 

How great is this one?!!  Again, open and bright, yet still very cozy.  The floors give it some nice warmth along with the cushion and the glaze on the cabinets.  You could even read a book in this one!  That is until real life moves in...back packs, coats, snow gear, boots and all the other weird stuff kids drag in! ;)  Gotta love it.

Google Images                                                    Better Homes and Gardens

Although I like the light cabinets, I am a sucker for warm, rich color...my fave!  I think I want to kiss the green one.  So pretty.  I would put a cushy {easy to clean} pad on it, though. 

Well, a girl can dream.  In the mean time, get ready to see my functional, organized laundry and garage entry.  I might even show a before picture, not for the faint of heart.  I think my cute mother-in-law almost passes out every time she's here. ;)  She still loves me though.  

Don't hold your breath or anything.  It may be a bit before the big reveal.  I have a busy next couple weeks, so it could be a slow moving project.  Wish me luck, and the best of luck to you all in your organizing, cleaning and decluttering.

Quick Change Valentine Decor

I  have shared with you my love for turning Christmas clearance into inexpensive Valentine Decorating.  If you think outside of the box a bit, you will find how often this can be done.  I love this one!  ;)  So fast, so easy!

I found this cute frame in the Christmas clearance at Michael's.  I think at 70% off it was like $2 or $3.  They had ones that said believe, joy etc., but this one said LOVE!

It had cute little bells attached to it which made it quite

Christmas-y.  So I thought to myself, "Self, if you just attach something more Valentine-y to this, it would be Valentine decor!"

I had these little acrylic vase fillers I was using for another project and they worked perfect!  They already had holes i them for me to thread the wire through! YAY!  The little red one I had to loop wire through, but it wasn't hard at all.  It literally took me all of 2 minutes to change them all out!

I think it turned out pretty sweet.  (Even Mr. Husband was impressed.)  I hope it inspires you to use your creativity and repurpose!  Loves! 

I'm sharing at The Shabby Chic Cottage's Transformation Thursday!  Check it out. :)

Sweet and Simple Valentine Topiary

In between {sort of} taking down my Christmas decorations, I have worked on a few fun Valentine's Day projects.  I know I should probably finish one thing before I start another, but that's just how I roll. ;)  This one is way simple.

Have you ever noticed that some Christmas decor can be easily transformed into Valentine decor? Well this is a favorite trick of mine! Clearance Christmas=Inexpensive Valentine's Day decorating! I will be sharing some great ideas on how to do this, so stay tuned. Here is the first!

See, this topiary ball is actually a Christmas kissing ball.  The colors are perfect for Vday!  I also have here a cute little stone urn from the thrift store ($2),  some (Christmas) berries, greenery and moss.  Please pardon my messy craft area.  I actually "cleaned" her up a bit for the pictures!   That's sad, but what can I say?  Creativity is messy!

I then stuck a discarded stem from another project into the foam ball.  I trimmed it to the length that would work to keep the ball where I wanted it.  Flush with the urn.  You could use a wooden dowel or anything sturdy enough to handle the weight.  I added a bit of hot glue to make sure it was in there securely.  I heart hot glue.

I wedged a piece of florist's foam in the urn for a snug fit.  I secured the edges with hot glue and then stuck moss around to cover and add more pressure to keep the foam in.  Next, I added some glue on top and then stuck in my topiary ball.

I filled in the edges with more moss to cover the foam and because I love me some moss.  It's already so cute, don't you think?  So, I know I have greenery and berries waiting there patiently, but for this one I decided to leave them out.  If you wanted you could stick the greens around the base of the ball mixed in with the berries.  I've done this a lot and it turns out really nice, I just liked the simplicity of this alone.

I filled in some of the spaces in between the fruit with some more moss just to tie it all in. And I know I said I liked it as it was, but to make it a little more "love"-ly I added this bright ribbon and cute little sign.  What do you think?

Take this and play on it with your own ideas and touches!  There could be so many fun and different variations of this.  I hope this gets your creative juices flowing.  XOXO

I'm linking up with...



Love in Bloom

Love is in the air!  Valentines Day is fast approaching, so time for some fun decor.  I should probably get down my Christmas Tree first!!  I'm bad this year.  I have removed most my Christmas decorations, but the tree still stands.  I think it's because I am a being such a  slug enjoyed it so much this year.  Whatever. ;)

I want to quickly share one of my Valentine wreaths, "Love in Bloom".  I like how it has a wintery feel but has happy spring like elements.  I quite enjoy the iced roses and I love the yellow green color.  The pink iced picks remind me of rock candy and give it a bit of whimsy.  Mixed in with moss and greenery and my fave, green hops, this wreath makes me feel the love.

 

I have some fun Valentine projects I will be sharing in the next week or so and also adding to my etsy shop.  I hope this will inspire you to show the love around your home as well.  Hey, I am even feeling like maybe...just maybe I might take down my tree! (that is 2 maybe's and 1 might)